Nature

The Brontës and Nature

All three of the Brontè sisters display a great responsiveness towards Nature in their poetry and fiction. This is most prominent in the work of Emily, whose passionate relationship with all aspects of the natural word has seemed to some commentators to be religious or mystical. It could be argued that Nature functions as a character in Wuthering Heights The sisters' sensitivity towards variations of landscape, its colours and shapes and the behaviour of the weather can be seen as an outcome of the close proximity of open moorland to Haworth Parsonage.

The intrinsic role of Nature

The natural world is certainly the principal source of the imagery used in Jane Eyre. Not only do many important scenes take place in the open air, but even when they are indoors, the characters are likely to be aware of the world outside the walls and windows. Every kind of natural phenomenon is referred to – for example: trees, flowers, birds, rivers and the moon - and also the landscapes into which these features are composed. The weather is frequently mentioned and often provides a dramatic backdrop to events. Indeed, it very rare for natural features to be described simply as part of a neutral scene-setting: in almost every case they have some bearing on the action of the novel. It is also notable that some of the characters have names drawn from the natural world: Eyre (air), Burns, Rivers, Reed.

There are two ways of understanding how natural imagery plays a part in the novel:

The first is to look out for individual details that appear to signify important moments in the story:

One example occurs at the end of Chapter 23 (Volume 2, Chapter 8) when the horse-chestnut is struck by lightning. This occurs immediately after Rochester has proposed to Jane and is clearly intended as a portent or foreboding of what is to follow

The other method of exploring the role of natural imagery is to look in detail at one or more passages from the novel, as in the following example.

Investigate!

In Chapter 12 (Volume 1, Chapter 12), re-read the three paragraphs beginning ‘Theground was hard, the air was still, my road was lonely' and ending ‘the tinkle of thenearest streams, the sough of the most remote'. Answer the following questions:

What is the context of the passage?

What kind of visual impression does the passage create?

To what extent does sound play a part in the passage, and with what effect?

What is the overall atmosphere of the scene described?

How is the scene relevant to the events that occupy the rest of the chapter?

You should now try to find other passages concerning the natural world and try toanswer the same questions about them (a good way of doing this is to look at theopenings of chapters, which often include natural description)

What is the context of the passage?

What kind of visual impression does the passage create?

To what extent does sound play a part in the passage, and with what effect?

What is the overall atmosphere of the scene described?

How is the scene relevant to the events that occupy the rest of the chapter?